Nope. You don't figure out what happened at a crime scene by shooting it.

I remember how Alan Wake was a "writer" that never wrote and only shot things. I hope Sebastian doesn't neglect his job like Alan. He should aspire to be more like REmake Jill who was a detective that could play the piano, repair elevators, hack computers and fix your plumbing.

Even Mikami has said that Capcom used to be fun to work for but later on they become stricter with what you could do. Don't forget Resident Evil 3.5 was lookin' mighty good but they told him if he went in that direction it'd probably mean the end of resident evil.

He doesn't have that pressure with a new IP especially not with Bethesda.

lol
I caught it.
I just want Sebastian to be as handy as older game characters were before gubberment training caused them to neglect all the life skills they had, like rewiring circuit boards and placing chess pieces in particular patterns.

That is true, but its not unreasonable to think that Bethesda could be pressuring him into replicating RE4 so they can reap the benefits.

I'm not saying the game looks bad or anything, it doesn't. I just don't see the "pure survival horror" that they're talking about

Click to expand...

Chris I totally get you, trust me I don't want to get too hopeful either. I can only comment on Mikami's talking points but he seems to stress his distaste for horror games going in the action direction nowadays. It's also pretty telling that he wants to stay away from machine guns, even RE4 had a machine gun in it.

It's a wait and see sorta deal, it's obvious he's still gonna have action in the game I just question if it will be as much as RE4. It's already quite obvious the horror in terms of atmosphere and ideas are surpassing RE4 already so that's reassuring. Sucks we probably have to wait for E3 for a trailer. I like how they said the monsters in the game set traps for you and how you can use the traps against them. I

Even Mikami has said that Capcom used to be fun to work for but later on they become stricter with what you could do. Don't forget Resident Evil 3.5 was lookin' mighty good but they told him if he went in that direction it'd probably mean the end of resident evil.

He doesn't have that pressure with a new IP especially not with Bethesda.

Click to expand...

That sounds good to me.

Click to expand...

That would explain a lot. The more I hear, and the more I know, I just can't ever like Capcom anymore. I used to like companies, until I started realizing there were people...true geniuses that made something special that were behind the curtain.

First off, anyone else see the resemblance in the titles, 'The Evil Within,' and 'Resident Evil.' I mean come on!

Hate for Shinji Mikami aside because I don't know him and I don't care. The Evil Within looks pretty promising. I love the photo with the guy hiding from the butcher, I love that kind of stuff!

I'll add this game to my anticipated line up in my sig.

Click to expand...

I think it's intentional. Kinda like telling Capcom, here's my spirtual sequel to RE4 to show you can take it back to horror and succeed. He always seemed kinda annoyed by the action direction by 5 and 6.

Capcom was always the problem from what it sounds like, and they seem to keep proving it with the way they've handled every aspect of their company. Meanwhile, Shinji Mikami keeps directing and designing on a consistently good basis, while Capcom has a captain & crew abandoning ship. So what if he helped Nintendo out? All he did was attempt to force competition with other titles on the Playstation, which in the end is much better for gamers overall. I can't say it worked, nor can I prove that to be the true reasoning but it all depends on how you look at it I suppose.

I don't think it's a coincidence that 2002-2003 were great years for horror titles on PS2 because of REmake, honestly, but like I said...no way I can prove anything. Sure, RE4 wasn't exactly as scary as previous titles, but it still had its moments that outshone every little bit in Zero. There were still a lot of nods to horror movies, and some silly dialogue that is pretty much tradition in Resident Evil. It may have helped kill survival horror, but it did redefine what it means to be a third person shooter, which those sucked hard before RE4 came along and changed all that.

I'm going to guess the Regenerator's, and more unique monsters in the game had Mikami's touch more so than the rest of the team, but hey, each to his own. I don't dislike RE4 as much as lot of classic fans do, but I did hate the direction of the story and underdeveloped characters. The premise itself is decent, and gives room for several ideas in horror, which do trickle through here and there. I still get creeped out by the invisible bugs, and the way you can hear them and hey, props to the guys who designed and worked on Leon's many game over deaths. Those were awesome.

Anyway, I'm actually surprised Mikami made the SNES Aladdin, which is the one I liked more over the Genesis version, as well as that Good Troop game, which my friend and I loved playing that game. I know a lot of people preferred the other Aladdin title, but I think the SNES version feels more in the spirit of the movie, and it's more about the platforming than the action. Plus, Jafar is one of the more fun bosses I've experienced in a platformer that wasn't made by Nintendo (at the time anyway) and so yeah.

I'm babbling on like an old man now...wonder what kinda problems I'll be complaining about in games at 80?

Didn't the old school RE titles also have machine guns, bazookas and even flamethrowers? I'm not against having big weapons in survival horror games, just as long as they aren't available that often it'll be fine.

Yeah they had machine guns and the like, but ammo for them was very scarce and the flamethrower wasn't very powerful either.

Click to expand...

^ Exactly. Not just that, I'd argue with the over the shoulder perspective it only pushes the SHOOTER (gameplay) feel more, where as with fixed camera angles it really didn't. I think it's smart that Mikami wants to do away with that sorta weapon. Good for him, hopefully it's a sign of things to come from this game as it takes a more "horror" themed take on action.

Famitsu.com posted the image of their next cover. Looks like it does indeed take place in the past based on the get up he's wearing. Very cool artwork.

Thanks Yama for the following translation ( From Famitsu article on site)

Kevin Gifford | Famitsu wrote:Shinji Mikami, the main mind behind the original Resident Evil series, is back in the survival-horror scene. That much he proved last week when Tango Gameworks, the Bethesda-owned developer Mikami founded in 2010, released the first real media from The Evil Within, their first major project, last week.

"With this game, we are aiming for a pure form of survival horror," Mikami told Famitsu magazine in this week's issue. "The gameplay you see in the survival-horror genre has changed with the times, and I think right now it leads more towards action than it did before. So we're trying to avoid that. To be honest, it's hard to make survival horror work as a game. Should you emphasize the entertainment aspect and focus on the fun of killing enemies? Or should you try to aim for more of a creeping sort of terror? It's hard to strike a balance, but with this game, we're trying to place our weight primarily on the horror aspects."

The Evil Within (announced this week in Japan under the name Psycho Break) stars Detective Sebastian Castellanos, who's sent along with his partners Joseph Oda and Julie "Kid" Kidman on a call to a mental asylum in the city where they live. Apparently all the patients and employees in the hospital are dead, and things get even weirder once Sebastian sets foot in the facility.

"Sebastian, the hero, starts the game already in pursuit of a brutal murderer," Mikami explained. "However, as he answers the call that takes him to the mental hospital, he winds up accidentally going into this nightmare-like world. We made it accidental because if you had a solid goal and you were chasing down this mystery, it'd stop being scary once you found the truth. I think it's more fun, and scarier, for this detective to get whisked away in this mystery while answering another call. Instead of chasing a criminal, it's a game where you're being pursued and you're trying to figure out how to survive."

Mikami said that he also made the hero a police detective in order to get gunplay into the game, although he emphasized that this isn't The Evil Within's main focus. "There are traps you'll run into in assorted areas, and you can use these traps to defeat enemies," he said. "You can use guns, too, of course, but you'll find the ammo supply to be just a bit limited in this game. Instead of just relying on your firearms in battle, I want players to use the traps and other things in the local area to strategically find a way to survive."

As Mikami put it, too much gunplay would rob the game of much of its horror, something he's taking pains to preserve here. "With Resident Evil," he said, "you're controlling these special-ops guys, and yet they fire their handguns pretty slowly, right? Even at the time, people on the dev team would say 'These guys have special weapons training; aren't they firing a little too slow?' But there was a reason for that. You could shoot a zombie once, but they'd still keep coming towards you, right? He might bite you before you get the next shot off. That's the kind of fear I wanted the player to feel. With this game, too, that interval is really important."

Mikami first announced The Evil Within in April of 2012 under the codename Zwei — the way he framed it in the interview, it's taken this long to get the game firmly off the ground. "Being a completely original project, it's a difficult process, but a really gratifying one," he said. "I love dealing with the problems that crop up every day, and I'm working hard on the story, too. Previously, I always put more weight on the game aspect when working on stories. I'd take a pretty simple approach to building a scenario — maybe there'd be a character who got involved in the story, but really, he's only there so he can give you an item you need; that kind of approach. With this game, the game and the story are much more closely weaved together. The gameplay isn't prioritized above the story here, and we're trying to make this the the best sort of survival-horror entertainment it can be. I'd like to have it so the player can't skip past the storytelling event scenes, so I'm thinking of ways to deeply weave the story into the game so it doesn't affect the tempo."

Right now, Bethesda has a 2014 release planned for the PC and assorted consoles — and Mikami refused to elaborate on that. "I'm sorry, but I really can't answer that yet!" he told Famitsu. "It was a tough trial-and-error effort in the early stages, but things are moving along smoothly now. The basic game system is complete, and now we're all just working hard toward getting the game done. People expecting pure survival horror are definitely going to be glad they waited. We're planning to support next-generation consoles as well, so look out for further updates."

Foreign translated interview from the same people with the previous info-What was the genesis of The Evil Within? How did the idea to develop this game?
Masato Kimura: In the beginning we had a lot of different ideas from which to draw. Then Zenimaxx Asia suggested we do a survival horror, most of the team was in agreement and we know that many fans of Shinji Mikami want such a thing. Shinji Mikami: At first we were thinking in a different direction, then we realized that gamers want a true Survival Horror.

The game reminds me a little 'Resident Evil 4 as type gameplay, but also other titles with a lot of atmosphere and ambience. What was the inspiration for the game?
Masato Kimura: Our inspiration comes from many different sources and nothing in particular.

What kind of fear you want to try with your title?
Masato Kimura: A kind of fear precise and perfectly identical beginning of the adventure to its end, with the player wrapped in the mystery of what happens around him.
Shinji Mikami : Even though the enemies can have maybe one scary aspect, for the purposes of fear situations are the most important to create, the idea that you have only one chance to get out alive, a number of limited resources and the fact that the player is always in danger, having to choose in a fraction of time whether to flee or fight.

How do we define the enemy? Seize? Infected?
Masato Kimura: We want players to be afraid because I do not know exactly what they are (laughs).
Shinji Mikami: Enemies can be divided into two major sections. Those that are humanoids, which have undergone mutations and expressing the evil that permeates them, then other creatures unless identified and shrouded in mystery, high-level, the player does not know how to deal with.

Can you explain in more detail how you decided on the art style, the character design and the logo of the game.
Masato Kimura: It 'a common practice for teams to Mikami, we put in the cauldron and begin to develop different ideas, choosing the best things. The brain, for example symbolizes an unstable world, where so many things are not clear.
Shinji Mikami: E 'was a natural process, and all aimed at creating the best Survival Horror possible.

The hospital reminds us in some ways the first Resident Evil, where you get to the villa and everything happens, even if The Evil Within everything seems to be more disturbed and less complottistico.
Masato Kimura: You got me with what you noticed! (Laughs) Our aim is to make the player feel strange and disturbed.

Mr. Mikami is not happy with the current Survival Horror, right?
Shinji Mikami: Over the years there have been several variations on the theme, the problem is that we need a proper balance between the horror and the action. If the former shall prevail, the game becomes surreal and even excessive, if the second prevails you lose the atmosphere and it trivializes the whole.

What is your opinion on the evolution of horror game over time? Think they have become a niche genre?
Masato Kimura: The Survival Horror is a genre that Mr. Mikami has created many years ago, and it is clear that we must have a perfect balance in all its parts. You have to be afraid, you can kill the monsters and have a brief sense of relief, but do not exceed in any component. Obviously, there can be a kind of wide-ranging as action games, but to us it's okay.
Shinji Mikami: Perfect balance, yes, I want to bring the genre to the canons of the past.

Still on balance, do you think that aspects such as music, graphics and interface are important to create the game "perfect"?
Masato Kimura: Horror is a difficult genre to pin down, even for movies, because there are indeed many elements to balance. If you are extreme, it is fun instead of scary, if you are "bland" can not cause fear and tension. For this reason, the visual, audio and design must be perfectly balanced, and Mr. Mikami is a master at this. Another very important thing is the sense of identification with the world, for this purpose we want to avoid that the interface will prevail over the rest, and that each option is easily accessible.

How will the interaction with other characters, we will check other as the woman who comes along with Sebastian the hospital?
Shinji Mikami: In some situations the player will have to cooperate with their peers to survive. But for most of the time will only, and there will be no other playable characters.

What is the graphics engine used by the game?
Shinji Mikami: The Tech 5, id Software, which we have modified in some parts to better suit the type of game.

How do you expect players will receive the title?
Shinji Mikami: We expect them to say "It 'a long time not seen a game like that!" (Laughs)

You already have a window of time out? What can you say about the next gen?
Masato Kimura: The game will also be released on the next generation of consoles as well as for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, the release date is scheduled for 2014.

According to you what the next gen will do more than today?
Shinji Mikami: Of course we will have new opportunities in terms of graphics, physics and design, the most important thing, however, is to understand how to put together all the ideas and make them work .

How is the relationship with Bethesda? Considering that you are their only study Japanese
Masato Kimura: We are very pleased with the relationship with them, perhaps because we are a study led by Shinji Mikami, are very tranquulli and allow us to work on anything that comes to mind.

What do you think the Japanese market, especially lately is often criticized by players and Western journalists ...
Shinji Mikami: Honestly I do not put too much attention on critical situations or others, I worry about making games. They are obviously aware of this sense of general negativity, however, work with Zenimaxx we will reach a wider group of players, but without sacrificing the tastes of the Japanese do in other countries.

Finally. 2014, that's a long time from now. No choice but to wait for this game I guess. It sure looks good and I hope it delivers. Maybe, just maybe this will be indeed worth the wait. Definately keeping an eye on this one.

I just hope that Mikami & co., when talking about "striking a balance" between action and survival horror, don't have the idea in their heads that RE4 was anywhere near balanced. It's true that the games have become more and more action-oriented since then, but RE4's needle is still very much pointed most of the way towards action. Everything looks and sounds great so far, no doubt, but that's the one fear I have for the moment (at least until seeing it in action). Balance, for me, would fall somewhere in the middle between RE4 and REmake.

I just hope that Mikami & co., when talking about "striking a balance" between action and survival horror, don't have the idea in their heads that RE4 was anywhere near balanced. It's true that the games have become more and more action-oriented since then, but RE4's needle is still very much pointed most of the way towards action. Everything looks and sounds great so far, no doubt, but that's the one fear I have for the moment (at least until seeing it in action). Balance, for me, would fall somewhere in the middle between RE4 and REmake.

Click to expand...

The fact that he mentions that they aren't including heavy weapons like machine guns, and that they want to utilize LIMITED resources has to be somewhat reassuring. We will see once gameplay footage comes out. The action will be there but I'm hoping it has a more survival aspect around it.

It's probably going to be good enough for me, I am not such a high demanding gamer to begin with. I'd gladly sacrifice graphics over gameplay any day. I like to put in the time if the game is awesome though. I've been playing a lot of shooters recently and as much as I like that to, it's also nice to wait for another good game that gives you the shivers.

Didn't the old school RE titles also have machine guns, bazookas and even flamethrowers? I'm not against having big weapons in survival horror games, just as long as they aren't available that often it'll be fine.

Didn't the old school RE titles also have machine guns, bazookas and even flamethrowers? I'm not against having big weapons in survival horror games, just as long as they aren't available that often it'll be fine.

Click to expand...

I think most of the gun hate comes from enemies wielding guns.

Click to expand...

Eh, I'd argue that it's different in the old games compared to the new games. You get a machine gun with a over the shoulder view and it starts feeling much more like a shooter game. If you get a machine gun in a game with fixed camera angles it's an entirely different feeling, especially since you probably don't get as much ammo.

So I completely get while Mikami wants to have your core weapons and not machine guns.

I just looked at some pictures on Google, really digging the lady in blood coming out of the water. Kind of creepy but it shows promise? Perhaps she could be a boss you have to fight? I assume there's no release date as of now? Probably not.

So much blooddd....Glad it's gory, I hate how RE5/6 kinda turned down the gore after 4.

At least they look creepier than Ganados...

On the Evil Within forum the poster Rikitatsu translated some of the info where this came from and it said..
It's important that the game isn't focusing on gunplay as it would rob the game of it's horror. You can plant traps and shoot them to activate them, and you can even put it on the enemie's back. ( mines ).....

Also "The revolver's gonna have a big recoil, so you wouldn't be able to shoot as fast as you would with a pistol.The same goes for the shotgun behind Sebastian's back. "

Loving the concept art for this game. Looks very serious like the original resident evil and less like the cartoony vibed RE4. The little girl on the top left is just eerie... and those locaitons look fantastic.